t eanc 0 VOL. 40, NO. 25
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Friday, June 21,1996
FALL RIVER, MASS.
FALL RIVER DIOCESAN NEWSPAPER FOR SOUTHEAST MASSACHUSETTS CAPE COD & THE .ISLANDS Southeastern Massachusetts' Largest Weekly
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$13 Per'Year
Statement by His Excellency, Most Reverend Sean P. O'Malley, O.F.M., Cap., Bishop of Fall River I
The recent rash of Church burnings in our country is a disturbing attack on the equality of people and the freedom of religion. We, the people "In the eap~~~ f:Ji~to1] of of the Diocese of Fall River, our own dz ~e, our wish to express our solidarCatholic Churches were ity with all those whose lives also burned by bigots. " have been touched by these tragedies. In the early history of our own diocese, our Catholic Churches were also burned by bigots.
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It is our fervent prayer that the scourge of racism will disappear and that our faith in God will lead us to dis- r - - - - - - - - - - - - cover in each person a "It irs oUP fervent prayer brother or a sistE~r made in that Me s;courge of racism His image and likeness. will tlisappear... " We invite our Catholic people to contribute to a fund which the Diocese is establishing to help the congregations that have lost their churches. Donations may be sent to: Diocese of Fall River/Burned Churches Fund, P.O. Box 2577, Fall River, MA 02722-2577.
12th, Su1Ufay
of OrtlinaTj' rrinu RemillJder In keeping wit/lour 49week publishi,,,g schedule, there wUl be no Anchor isSUE'S for the weeks ofJuly 5 and 12. Items for publ'ication in the June 28 isJ~ue should reach us by ~ruesday, Junel-5.
Curtain closes Oft 1996 Catholic Charities Appeal The final curtain has come down for the 1996 Catholic Charities Appeal in the Diocese of Fall River. This year's effort resulted in unprecedented success, as a recordshattering amount, $2,580,241.30, was collected. Bishop Sean P. O'Malley, OFM, Cap., expressed his profound thanks to the many in business, ind ustry and the professions in southeastern Massachusetts who contributed to the Appeal and to the tens of thousands of faithful Catholics: from parishes throughout the Diocese who responded to the plea for generous support in their respective parish communities of faith. The sum gathered in the 1996 Appeal eclipsed the previous year's total by 8.3 percent. Monsignor Thomas J. Harrington, director of the Appeal, said that amount was
in line with tlhe increased demands reflected in !budget requests from the many diocesan agencies, apostolates and ministries which depend upon the Charities Appeal each year for funding. Monsignor Harrington noted that he had recently attended a meeting of the Board of Directors of Catholic Social Services at which Bishop O'M alley presided. CSS director Arle:ne McNamee offered an encouraging report of activities conducted by the agency in all parts of the diocese, but it was apparent that in the new fiscal year continued improvement of outreach would be contingent upon additional resources.
exceptional service, thanks to the generous response to our 1996 Catholic Charities Appeal." Many parishes throughout the diocese registered significant increases in their returns. Suburban parishes such as St. Julie's parish in North Dartmouth, Our Lady of Mount Carmel parish in Seekonk and St. Rita's parish in Marion, registered notable success in this year's effort. Many Cape Cod area parishes exhibited significant growth, among them St. Francis Xavier parish in HyaQnis, Our Lady of the Assumption parish in Osterville and Corpus Christi parish in Sandwich.
Despite constrained economic Monsignor Harrington reported, circumstances in the older mill "It looks likl~ Catholic Social Ser- towns in Bristol County, several vices will continue to maintain its... inner-city parishes had surprising
percentage increases. In New Bedford, Our Lady of the Assumption parish and Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception parish enjoyed this level of success, as did St. Lawrence Martyr parish. Father John P. Driscoll, pastor of St. Lawrence Church and one of the senior priests active in parochial ministry in the diocese, attributed some of this success to the maintenance of the "door-to-door" solicitation process. He told the story of one of the volunteers at the downton New Bedford parish, now deceased, who continued to collect for the Charities Appeal until his 100th birthday. The elderly man would turn on his porch light during the afternoon of the home visitation program and his neighbors, recognizing the signal, would bring their contributions to him!